Agenda item

            The Committee considered an application which sought outline permission for the demolition of two existing buildings to enable the construction of purpose-built student accommodation to include a ground level car and bike-park, a gymnasium and retail units. The case officer indicated that the main issues which had been pertinent to the case had been:

·        the acceptability of the accommodation at the location;

·        the acceptability of the ground floor retail use;

·        the impact on setting of adjacent listed buildings;

·        the impact on the character of area;

·        the impact on existing roads infrastructure; and

·        the impact on residential amenity.

            The case officer advised the Committee that, having taken into account all of the existing policies and other material considerations, a recommendation to refuse the application was being presented, specifically for the following reasons:

·        the proposal was contrary to the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, Policy QD1 of Planning Policy Statement 7, i.e., ‘Quality Residential Environments’, in that it would, if permitted, cause unacceptable damage to the character of the area due to its uncharacteristic and inappropriate height, scale and mass;

·        the proposal was contrary to the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland and Policy BH11 of ‘Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage’, in that it would, if permitted, have an adverse impact on, and harm the setting of, a number of listed buildings due to its height, scale and massing and would not respect the character and setting of the listed buildings;

·        the proposal was contrary to the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland and Policy HMO7 of  ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation – Subject Plan for Belfast City Council Area 2015’, in that the site was located within a primarily residential area and the proposal would not result in a form of development which would promote appropriate student accommodation and protect the amenity of residential areas;

·        the proposal was contrary to the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, Article 3 of the Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 and Policy QD1 of Planning Policy Statement 7 – ‘Quality Residential Environments’, in that insufficient information had been submitted to demonstrate that the proposal would not have a significant impact on the amenity of neighbouring residential premises by way of noise and disturbance;

·        the proposal was contrary to the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, and Article 3 of the Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015, in that insufficient and inadequate information had been submitted to demonstrate that the site was suitable for the proposed residential end use; and

·        the proposal was contrary to the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, Article 3 of the Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015, and Planning Policy Statement 3 – ‘Access, Movement and Parking’, in that it had failed to demonstrate how it would not prejudice road safety or inconvenience the flow of traffic; that there was adequate car parking to serve the proposed development, or that the measures proposed to promote alternative modes of transport would be sufficient.

            The Committee refused the application for the reasons outlined.